This invention relates to a resilient coupling to join together machine elements in a driving relation and, more particularly, to a coupling which includes a hub on which there is carried a resilient ring assembly including two axially-contiguous circular ring parts bearing radially on the hub with each ring part including elastomeric ring sectors and ring plates adhered to opposite axial ends of each elastomeric ring sector so that an elastomeric ring sector of one circular ring part can be secured to and span parts of two elastomer ring sectors of the other ring part for transmitting a driving force between a drive ring interconnecting the hub and the resilient ring assembly and coupling part secured to an end of the ring sectors which is opposite the drive ring.
A coupling is a device that connects two shafts end-to-end. A flexible, or resilient, coupling is used when accurate lineal alignment of the shafts is not possible. A flexible coupling allows for a certain amount of misalignment as well as acting as a shock absorber for vibrations and jerks in torque transmission. Such a coupling is useful for any application in which one shaft is driven to rotate at a certain angular velocity, and it is desired for the second shaft to rotate at the same velocity, but perfect alignment between the two shafts is not possible.
In West German Patent Publication DE No. 31 09 388 there is disclosed a resilient shaft coupling in which a resilient intermediate member is provided for interconnecting two rigid coupling parts, the resilient intermediate member takes take the form of two parallel and connected inner ring elements and a consecutively-arranged outer ring element. The series or consecutive connection of ring elements in a coupling arrangement of this type produces correspondingly large dimensions to the coupling in the plane of the diameter thereof. An axially-adjacent arrangement of ring elements in a consecutive driving relationship is known but the ring elements disposed axially after the first ring element must be supported radially by an external metal member which is rigidly connected to one of the two coupling parts. Usually ring elements are connected to the drive part. The moment of inertia of the mass of the coupling increases as the number of consecutively-disposed resilient ring elements increases and, therefore, the length of the outer part increases. This is a characteristic which is undesirable for various reasons. Also, the use of a metal outer part, which extends around resilient ring elements, increases the difficulty of replacing individual components of the coupling.